Number Nineteen
by Condor-K
Summary: The short account of Joey's beginning, what is it that makes his rattata so special?


A rattata.

The mouse pokémon, and my starter.

Imagine, if you will, you're starting on your journey, all geared up and ready to take on Johto's league. You go to pick up your starter from good ol' Elm, and what do you get?

If you're me, you get the mouse pokémon, Rattata, as if he's going to be the one to help me on my quest to take the gym badges. Fat chance. I just planned to ditch the thing once I got another pokémon. Literally any other around here would be better. To do that though, I'd need some pokéballs, and those would be in Cherrygrove City across Route 29. I'd have to actually battle with this sad excuse of a starter if I wanted to make it across without getting hurt by wild pokémon.

Of course, I wanted a re-do, or a different starter, but I hadn't even picked Rattata. Elm was in some sort of a hurry because his lab got broken into, so there wasn't any time for him to tell me what was in each. I just picked one and he politely booted me out. I was sure I could go back and get a different starter in a couple days, but I had waited so long to start my journey that there was no way it was going to get delayed because of this sorry excuse for a partner.

It looked like I was headed down Route 29. Hopefully I wouldn't run into too much on my way there, otherwise I wouldn't make it. **  
**

I scan out into the tall grass just outside my hometown. All my life I've only dreamed of walking into it on my own, competing in heated battles, fighting for my life against monsters of the wilderness, and taking on Johto's Pokémon League. Now I dreaded taking even one step into the unknown, almost completely unprotected from anything wishing to pick a fight. I looked down at my sole pokéball, a red and white herald of despair and a despicable omen of the things that awaited me on my road to becoming the greatest trainer the world had ever seen.

Just get past Route 29, I gave myself a pep talk. Just buy a pokéball, get a different starter, and you can really be on your way.

I stepped out, and with the early day's sun observing my actions, I headed for Cherrygrove City.

Not too far into my journey, I was alarmed by a rustling to my left. A sentret leaped from a bush and stood between me and my second chance at a pokémon adventure.

_Easy enough_, I delivered another rallying speech to myself,_ just another normal-type. You can probably win this at least._

I released my partner in front of me and Rattata appeared, aggressive and prepared to beat the obstacle in my path.

"Quick attack, Rattata!" A blur of purple and white clashed with the wild pokémon, and he reeled from the strike. The Scout Pokémon scratched at my starter in retaliation and I answered back, "Use tackle on it!" The move was again executed precisely and Sentret was knocked backwards. From that position he used defense curl to better protect against Rattata's physical attacks. "Use tackle again!" A mistake on my part; the gap created from the previous move combined with the slower moving speed of this one gave Sentret enough time to prepare for the collision. He threw his paw out to scratch Rattata as he closed for the tackle attack. Sentret was conscious long enough to land the move, but was down after making his second cut into Rattata.

I recalled Rattata swiftly after the battle. It had won the encounter, but that made it no less abhorrent in my eyes as a pokémon. It only won because of its superior level. The wild pokémon around here are too weak to win against anything. I glared down at my only pokéball and for the first time I spoke to it without barking a command. "I can't wait to ditch your ass." I pocketed the pokéball. I kept walking along the route.

Another pokémon appeared as I was reaching the end point of my dismal walk. A pidgey, a wild pokémon that's commonness rivaled even my starter. The battle was boring but Rattata's health was brought so low that another fight would surely take it out, so I was forced to give it my only potion in case of another encounter. It would be just another thing I'd have to pick up once I got to the shop in Cherrygrove.

I continued to walk along until finally, gloriously, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The end of the wild grass and the entrance to the small town stood before me and a smile shone through on my face for the first time since I started my journey. It was quick to disappear when I saw three tall figures standing in the town, coming out of a house. Looking at them more closely, I saw a bright and malicious "R" on two of their shirts.

_It seems this is just my luck,_ I complained to myself yet again.

Before I could think to run away, one of the criminals noticed my examination of them and pointed me out to his two buddies. I turned to flee from the looming confrontation. Whatever they wanted couldn't have been too noble. "Slow down there, man!" They were definitely too fast for me to outrun. I had been caught. Now that they were up close I saw that two of the Team Rocket criminals, both of which seemingly in their mid-twenties, were in the conventional uniform and had bulging sacks slung on their back. However, the one in the middle wasn't in any sort of Team Rocket uniform. Instead, he was wearing a plain black suit and black tie, and on the tie was the only red "R" on his clothing. He was also only a bit older than the other two and had slicked back hair the same color of his suit.

There was no chance that I was going to battle these guys and win, regardless of whether I was using my pokémon or my own fists. "Anything I can help you guys with tonight?" My confident demeanor was transparent, and the sarcastic remark seemed to be my only defense mechanism besides physically fighting these guys.

The man in the suit chuckled at the lame joke that was myself. "Look here kid." His voice was arrogant and smooth, but his confidence was the real deal. "We're in a bit of a hurry here, and no one walks through grass like that unprotected, so hand over whatever pokémon you've got and that would be just grand." He smiled as if he were asking something meaningless and nice.

However much I hated my rattata for being my starter, and however much I despised it, there was no way I would hand over any pokémon to Team Rocket. Whoever did that might as well join up with their vile ranks. I hoped that whoever they got their already stolen pokémon from felt the same way towards the despicable organization.

"This pokémon," I held up my solitary pokéball, "is mine, and you won't steal him from me!"

The smile disappeared from the suited man's face, but his partners both cracked up laughing at what I had said. The one to my left dropped his sack of stolen pokéballs and pulled out his own. "Captain Raze, please allow me." He threw his pokéball into the air to release a huge hariyama into the space between us. I pulled out my starter's pokéball as well, but before I could release it, the suited man, Raze, did the same and took a step forward.

"Put your garbage away, Ridley. The kid is mine." His face remained solemn ever since I opened my mouth. I laughed internally at the notion of him thinking the fight would even be a challenge for a powerful criminal like himself. Ridley returned his pokémon and took a step back, clearly insulted by his captain's words. In place of Hariyama, the captain sent out his own pokémon, an accelgor. "Your turn, kid."

I put on a brave face, "Go, Rattata!" The mouse pokémon escaped from his pokéball and bravely stared at his opponent. Now the Rocket Grunts were in stitches. They howled at my pokémon, and at me, his ridiculous trainer. Raze kept his serious face, not at all startled by my choice. I was deeply insulted by the two laughing at me. I knew it was an awful pokémon, but I didn't need them to tell me that much. "You two!" They whipped their heads towards me now. "Be warned, this is no ordinary rattata!" I had basically lost all control of what I was saying at this point. "He's in the top percentage of all rattata!" It was dumb, I know, but it was the first thing I could think to say that at least made sense.

Raze now grinned and his associates donned looks of bewilderment while I tried to make my face look as fierce as possible. "Rattata!" The pokémon cried in response, ready for any battle, no matter what the outcome might be. "Use quick attack on Accelgor now!" My partner shot out like a bullet against his opponent and slammed headfirst for a direct hit. Obviously the attack did next to nothing, and Rattata only bounced off the foe.

"Zephyr, U-Turn!" His pokémon's attack, however, did have a rather devastating effect on my own, knocking it out and simultaneously returning to its trainer.

Raze walked towards me, towards my face in stunned disbelief. I knew I would lose, but the feeling was crushing, that I'd lose my pokémon to Team Rocket of all people. The man in the suit took my pokéball from me, I couldn't have stopped him if I tried. There was no question. He recalled my partner, the starter I wasn't meant to receive and would've walked away, taking the pokémon out of my life.

He would have, if one of the grunts hadn't turned to notice a small squad of blue-clad men and women running towards us. "Captain! It's the police!"

Raze looked at them, thought for a second and dropped my starter on the ground. "Then that's our cue boys. We seem to have overstayed our welcome." With that line the trio ran off into the dense forest to the South with the majority of the officers pursuing them.

Civilians now came out to where I stood, or more accurately to where the criminals had left the sacks containing all of the stolen pokémon and one by one retrieved their own pokémon, releasing the monsters out until each found their own. An officer came over to me for the story of what I witnessed and I told them everything that happened. They said that they would need a description for what each member looked like for their sketches, but first I told them I'd need to go to the Pokécenter so my starter could be healed.

While waiting for my partner to heal, the nurse told me that a call from New Bark Town had come through earlier asking for me to call when I got there. So, after I retrieved the rattata, I went to the phone line to call who it was that was looking for me. It turned out to be Elm, and he seemed pleased to see me. "Hey buddy! How goes the adventure so far?"

"It's been... eventful, but not too bad all things considered." I responded holding up my pokéball.

He scratched his head and laughed nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that, obviously with all the commotion here, there was a bit of a mix-up. Don't worry though, you can come on back and I'll give you an actual starter and you can just return the rattata you got."

I looked down at it, the mistake, my misfortune, my rattata, and I decided to keep it. I didn't care who else thought it was weak or trivial. I chose to believe that, through hard work, we'd both become stronger. The next time some Rocket goon tried to battle me, I wouldn't just roll over and lose, I'd obtain a powerful team, starting with Rattata, and I'd beat anyone who laughed at me. "No thanks."

Elm looked shocked through the video, "Are you sure? It's really no problem at all to switch them out."

I smiled at him, confident in my answer, "I think I'll keep him, there's definitely something special about my rattata."

He shook his head, still puzzled at my opinion, "Alright, if that's what you want." He smiled at me and said, "Good luck on the rest of your journey, Joey!"


End file.
